The Lion and The Snake
by Slytherin Buttercat
Summary: Scorpius and James hated each other. And then they were friends. Finally, came love. Two-shot
1. Rivals

**Rivals**

* * *

 **Word Count: 1061**

 **Flying: Comet: Write about a rivalry turns into a friendship/romance.**

* * *

James groaned as he walked into the compartment his baby brother was sitting in. Next to him was the blond-haired Malfoy spawn. "Hey, Al," James said softly.

"James," Albus retorted, his voice low. "What do you want?"

He was surprised at the hostility in his brother's voice. They were supposed to be close. They _were_ close.

"I just wanted to see how you were." He didn't look over at the blond threat in the corner of the room. "No need to be rude."

"Well, you've seen me. I'm fine. Now go."

"But our cousins want to see you! Rose and Lucy don't want to be alone on their first day of school."

"Go away, brother."

"This is all _his_ fault, isn't it? You've spent an hour with him, and he's already corrupted you."

"Go _away_!" The words were screeched, and an empty Chocolate Frog box was thrown his way.

* * *

"Granger-Weasley, Rose."

James waited with bated breaths. This was his first cousin that was going to be sorted. She was the first one. She could be in any house, go anywhere but—

"Gryffindor!"

James stood up, openly letting out his happiness. Roxanne shot a glare at him, but clapped along politely. Rose threw herself next to another small girl, but grinned happily at James, waving energetically.

He had to smile a little at his younger cousin's actions. She was adorable, in a younger cousin way.

He turned back to the sorting. The blond spawn was standing amongst the other Firsties, looking completely lost. Albus was nattering on to him, but the words seemed to fall on flat ears, as Scorpius didn't seem interested at all.

He hated that about the brat. Scorpius should be paying attention to his brother.

Albus was worth it.

"Malfoy, Scorpius."

The trembling boy made it up to the stool. The hat was placed over his head, covering his young face. A few minutes later (and quite a few tremors from the small boy) he was finally sorted into Slytherin, although the hat seemed resigned, as if it didn't want him to go there. Scorpius seemed relieved, but there was still a slight tremble as he went to sit down.

James wondered why he was so scared. Would he really get punished if he wasn't in Slytherin?

Why was he caring about a filthy Snake, anyway?

He sat, wallowing in his thoughts. His brother was going to do the honourable thing: follow his friend into the Snake's den. James didn't understand why. He didn't understand why Albus would pick Scorpius over him.

He probably wasn't even a choice to start with.

* * *

The year progressed quickly. James and Albus got into countless verbal fights in the corridors. James and _Scorpius,_ though, got into even more physical fights. Sometimes it was James' fault. Other times, it was Scorpius'.

They just didn't get on. Snakes didn't agree with Lions. It just didn't happen.

James slightly regretted it. Scorpius was nice enough. Yet he could never stop himself from saying the simplest of insults. And Scorpius couldn't help returning harsher ones. And suddenly fists were flying and Albus was trying to break it up but failed and Rose stood in the corner with her hands over her ears, trying to block out the noise of conflict which she had grown to fear, her brown eyes wide in panic.

It was a continuous circle. It would never stop.

* * *

Scorpius stayed a week in the holidays. It would've been fine, if James wasn't such a colossal prick. There was something about making Scorpius break that James found interesting.

"Alright, Blondie?" James would say as they passed each other in the hall.

"I was fine until I saw your ugly face," Scorpius would reply, glaring hatefully at James, although his glare was never that intense, like he found this whole tirade amusing as well.

"Well, aren't you original?" James would sarcastically say, rolling his eyes.

"More original than you, I would bet," Scorpius would say.

"Is that so?"

Scorpius would punch him in the face, a new spot to the day before. They would end up wrestling on the floor, ending up battered, bruised and breathless.

The cycle would continue. Day after day until Scorpius left.

James hated himself for it.

* * *

The years went by and the fights got smaller, less frequent. James found himself missing it. So much so that he began picking on his little sister, just to get the thrill of the fight.

"Come on, Little Girl, you can do better than that," he would tease.

"Pardon?" She would say, her voice annoyed. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm a woman now! I wear a bra!"

James would roll his eyes. "Everyone knows that the bra is just stuffed with tissues."

"You take that back! What would you know about puberty? You're sixteen, yet you still haven't seemed to experience it. I'm twelve. There's a difference."

"Shut up!" Lily would scream, her voice rising in frustration.

"Since when can the Ickle Firstie boss me around?" He would taunt, enticing her to take the first hit.

"I'm not a first year anymore, Dumbass, in case you didn't realise. I am now in my second year. You're just oblivious to anything going on around you."

He would always be the one to initiate the physical fight. He would always strike first.

She would always strike back. Harder.

Both would end up with bruises, or a split lip, or a broken nose. Both would end up in serious trouble. Both enjoyed the thrill of the fight.

It was never going to end. The fighting wouldn't stop. He was addicted to the thrill, almost as much as he was addicted to nicotine.

Almost.

* * *

It ended up being the nicotine that saved him.

He was smoking in the bathroom at school like he usually did in between lessons. No one interrupted him normally. These bathrooms were always empty.

However, somebody decided they desperately needed the toilet, and burst into the abandoned bathroom.

James jumped high into the air. He tried to stump out the cigarette, but the person had already seen it. A wide grin appeared on his face.

"You, too?" He asked. "That's good, Potter. It means I don't have to awkwardly hide in a cubicle."

And then the fourteen-year-old blond pulled out a cigarette of his own and lit it, taking in a long drag.

* * *

 **Teamwork: (dialogue) "in case you haven't noticed, I'm a woman now! I wear a bra!", (action) being caught smoking in the bathroom**


	2. Friends

Friends

Word count: 1214

Flying: Comet: Write about a rivalry that turns into a friendship/romance

.

James yawned as he walked into the kitchen, casually brushing his hair out of his face with a lazy hand. He smiled as he saw Scorpius, who was filling up the kettle with water. They were enemies for a while, fighting whenever they got the chance. However, that changed when Scorpius found James smoking in the bathroom. They had bonded over their shared love for tobacco.

"Want anything to drink?" Scorpius asked.

"Coffee, please."

"Sorry, it's all out."

"Why is there no coffee left? Coffee is a basic human right!"

Scorpius grinned, switching the kettle on. "Your brother decided to try and make a coffee last night, and by chance he just managed to knock it over the edge."

James blinked. "Was he drunk?"

Scorpius shrugged. "Dunno. All I know is that he wasn't all there. So do you want tea or not?" His light smile met his lips again as he turned James.

He decided then that Scorpius' smile was dangerous. It was far too white, and sparkly, and it made James feel flutters in his stomach.

.

Rose came over later that day, bringing her broom with her. She hated flying (at least she claimed to hate flying) but the others wanted to practice, and she wanted to spend time with her friends.

Rose screwed up her nose as they made it to the Quidditch pitch. "Quidditch is not my forte. I shouldn't be doing any activity where balls fly at my face."

"Well, there goes your social life,"

James said without thinking.

Scorpius laughed, like music to his ears. It made his legs feel like jelly.

What dark magic had his friend used on him? He shouldn't be feeling this way about Scorpius! Not only was he his little brother's best mate, they were enemies for four years!

Although, now that he thought about it, he only liked the fights because of all the physical contact...

He had to squash this crush. It was the only way. He didn't even know if Scorpius was gay! He could be raising his hopes for nothing. It was better to get rid of the unwelcome feelings.

He would enjoy this game of Quidditch, and the nice view of Scorpius' butt that it gave him, and then he would move on. He would move on.

.

James' group won (even though the only person he had on his side was Rose, who was good at throwing and catching a ball despite all of her worries about the ball hitting her perfectly crafted face). Rose bounced away, her arm linked around Lily's, preparing to tell his dad all about their victory.

James looked backwards, having heard footsteps, and saw Scorpius running towards him, looking red. "Hi," he puffed, out of breath.

"Are you okay?" James asked stupidly.

"Per—fect." Scorpius rolled his eyes, before breathing in deeply. "How do you think I am?"

"Just perfect." James smirked as Scorpius preened. "What did you want, though, Scorp?"

Scorpius glared at the use of the nickname, before glowing red. He opened his mouth, before closing it again, unsure what to say.

"Cat got your tongue?" James joked, but secretly he was worried. What if Scorpius actually hated him after all this time?

"Well, I just wanted to say that I thought you played very well." His words were a jumble, and he darted off before James could even think about replying.

'Weird,' he thought. 'That is out of character for Scorpius. Is he ill?'

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Albus high-giving Scorpius.

.

The summer days passed quickly. Scorpius, who had no desire to go home to his dad, had stayed at theirs pretty much all of the holidays. That would have been fine with James, if it wasn't for the fact that Scorpius was a little distracting, with his good looks and gentle charm.

James tried to shake the images out of his mind, but they just got worse over time. It started off with a kiss, to something a bit more that left James tense for the whole day.

He couldn't handle the pressure anymore. He just had to ask somebody about what Scorpius really was. And he knew exactly who to ask.

.

"Hey, bro," James said as he crept into Albus' room.

Scorpius was nowhere to be seen, which was brilliant.

"James? What do you want now? If it's my Gobstones set, go away, you have your own."

"I want to ask you some questions."

"About what? My di—"

"No, no, no! I do not want to hear about that." James shuddered at the thought. He hadn't seen his brother naked since their mother bathed them together when they were younger.

"What do you want them, Jamesy? I haven't got all day."

"Well, Allie, I want to know about your friend. I was thinking that I don't know much about him, despite being his friend for months."

Albus sat up, concentration on his face. "How did you two become friends?" He asked. "Scorpius never really told me."

"He caught me smoking in the bathroom, and joined in. We instantly bonded over nicotine. Is he single?"

Albus shot a look at him. "Why would you want to know that? He is single."

The Slytherin seemed to be watching for his reaction. "I'm just curious, Allie."

"Well don't be, Jamesy. Just ask him out already, idiot. It's so obvious he likes you even dad noticed."

James looked up hopefully. "He does?"

Albus rolled his eyes. "Go get some. But remember, he is my best friend. I don't want him to come crying to me because you're too small."

"Don't worry, Little Brother. Scorpius won't have that problem."

.

James looked for Scorpius that day, and found him in the garden, tending to the plants that his day never bothered with anymore. They were one of the variety of gifts from Neville. "Hey," James smiled.

Scorpius stood up, wiping dirt down his trousers. "Hi," he said. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

"Fine."

They just stood there for a while, staring at each other awkwardly, before Scorpius smiled warmly at James. "I'm glad you're my friend," he told James.

His heart fluttered happily. "I'm glad too," he said, leaning closer to Scorpius.

"I mean, I wasn't terribly bothered about not being your friend, but it was kind of disheartening. I mean, you are my best friend's older brother, I thought that we should be close, and then all the fighting happened. It was fun, I liked it when we touched—"

Scorpius blushed, realising what he just said.

"Did you?" James' Gryffindor courage took him by surprise. "Well, you'll love this, then."

He pressed his lips to Scorpius' own pair.

Sparks seemed to fly between them. Or was that... confetti?

"About bloody time," Albus said. "I was waiting forever."

Rose was throwing the confetti from where she stood, a proud grin on her face. Lily was busy taking pictures. "Go away," James grumbled.

"See ya later," Albus called as he dragged the girls away.

Lily was laughing to herself. James flipped her off behind her back. "You can't get a moments peace in this house."

"That's part of why I love it so much." Scorpius lips parted into his dangerous smile. "Now, where were we?"

.

Teamwork: (dialogue) "I shouldn't be doing any activity where balls fly at my face."/"well, there goes your social life.", (dialogue) "why is there no coffee left? Coffee is a basic human right!"


End file.
